An Innocent Criminal
by MissKatieJayne
Summary: Skylar Cassidy is sent to the sky box for a crime she didn't commit. Trying to deal with an abusive past, and revelations about her father, Skylar and the rest of the 100 learn that being on Earth isn't the dream they all wanted. And trying to prevent people finding out about her crime is one big nightmare all on its own. Eventual Murphy x OC. Rated T for future violence.
1. The Descent

**Author's note: Welcome to my first story, 'An Innocent Criminal'. I do apologise for this chapter as my writing tends to take a while to get going, so please stick with it and I promise it will improve. It's based on 'The 100' which is one of my favourite TV series' of all time, and I am completely obsessed with it! Please just excuse me while I take a moment fangirling over Richard Harmon and Marie Avgeropoulos... So without further ado, on with the story!**

 **An Innocent Criminal**

 **Chapter 1**

 _It's been 97 years since a nuclear apocalypse killed everyone on Earth, leaving the planet simmering in radiation. Fortunately, there were survivors at the time of the bombs. There is now only The Ark, one station forged from the many. We're told the Earth needs another 100 years to become survivable again and man can go home, back to the ground. The ground, that's the dream._

 _This is reality...Reality sucks._

Only a few minutes ago, Skylar had been contently sitting in her cell on the skybox, trying not to think about her upcoming review. Now she was hurtling towards the ground in a 97 year old dropship. Life really sucks sometimes. The guards had barged into her cell, and attached some sort of metal band to her wrist before she could resist, and then practically dragged her out into the main area of the skybox and towards the dropship. She'd been put in solitary confinement for the second time in as many months, and the guards weren't particularly nice to people in there. Someone's voice, loud and clear with authority, pulled Skylar out of her daze, and the low murmur of nervous chatter stopped when the face of Chancellor Jaha appeared on screens around the ship.

"Prisoners of The Ark, hear me now. You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable-"

"Your dad's a dick, Wells!" Skylar was inclined to agree with whoever said that. She had never particularly liked Jaha, or the other members of the council (except for maybe Dr. Griffin), and what Jaha was saying made that dislike grow. People - children even! - as young as fourteen were sent to the skybox for theft or getting into fights. If there was a chance they were going to die on the ground, did they really deserve to be sent there?

"-Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean."

"I doubt it, high-class jackass," the girl next to Skylar muttered bitterly. Skylar actually laughed in agreement, something which seemed very odd in the situation.

"The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked..." A commotion from the other side of the ship distracted Skylar from the rest of the Chancellor's speech. People were cheering because someone had unclipped themselves from their seat, and was casually floating round the ship. Now they were arguing with a blonde girl who Skylar thought might be Dr. Griffin's daughter.

Skylar closed her eyes and tried to block out everything that was happening around her. She didn't care about the fact that some kid had unstrapped himself and was floating around to make himself look cool, all she cared about was trying to keep calm and survive the descent to the ground.

"Hey," the brunette girl next to her said, pulling Skylar out of her trance. "It's gonna be okay."

"You think?" Skylar questioned, not caring how shaky her voice was. The ship shuddered and she balled her hands up so tightly she was sure her fingernails would leave permanent grooves. The brunette girl reached over and made Skylar unclench her fist, then held it tight. It was just a simple gesture but Skylar had never felt so much support.

Later on Skylar would always remember this moment as the one where it all went to hell.

The dropship started violently jolting, and the two boys were thrown against the wall. People started screaming and thrashing around in their seats as the sounds of banging echoed all around the ship. The lights flickered and smoke blasted out from random parts of the walls. Skylar had lived in fear for most of her life and yet it was nothing compared to how scared she was at that moment. It seemed to be an eternity before they were jolted forward one last time, and then...nothing.

Skylar took several deep breaths to calm herself, and she saw a lot people around the ship doing the same, many with tears streaming down her faces. The only sound was a long moment was the sound of breathing until someone pointed out what they'd all been missing.

"Hey, listen," he began, catching everyones attention, "No machine hum." It became eerily quiet as everyone listened to the silence. The noise from the machines had been constant on The Ark; no way to escape it unless you were a Zero-G mechanic out on a space walk.

Click. Everyone rushed to pull off their harnesses, the excitement of being on the ground overtaking their fear of the descent. Dr. Griffin's daughter, Clarke someone had called her, ran over to check on the boys who had left their seats. Even from the other side of the ship Skylar could tell it wasn't good. There was a lot of shoving as everyone desperately raced to the lower level, wanting more than anything to see the outside world. Apparently Clarke didn't think this was such a good idea, as she ran after the crowd shouting for them to wait. Skylar had only taken a few steps when she saw the brunette girl she'd been sitting next hadn't moved. She looked a bit banged up from the fall but otherwise seemed okay.

"You coming?" Skylar asked, gesturing after the crowd. The brunette girl didn't move, her gaze fixed firmly on the lifeless bodies across the room. "Never seen a body before, huh?" The girl shook her head slightly, and Skylar thought about how young she looked. Maybe 16, 17 at a push. By then Skylar had already seen her fair share of death, it was a common thing on the poorer parts of The Ark, and seeing someone get floated was hardly rare. Some people were just luckier than others.

Skylar held her hand and gave it a squeeze, just as the girl had done for her earier. "We can bury them later, I'll make sure of it. Come on, we can't do anything now." She gently led the girl towards the ladder, the sounds of excited voices drifting up through the hatch.

At the door there was a guard, assigned to monitor the delinquents Skylar guessed, and he gestured for everyone to movee back. "Hey back it up guys!" From her spot on the ladder Skylar saw Clarke push her way through the crowd towards the guard.

"Stop! The air could be toxic!" Skylar jumped down off the ladder to allow the brunette girl to follow her.

"If it's toxic we're all dead anyway." He turned to pull the lever next to the door, Clarke stepping forward to protest.

"Bellamy?" Everyone turned to look at Skylar or, more specifically, Skylar's friend. She was looking at the guard like he was some sort of spectre, almost not daring to believe that he was real. A quick look at the guard showed he was feeling the same.

"O?" He practically gasped, his voice dripping with relief. 'O' rushed through the crowd to him and he wrapped his arms around her. He held her out at arms length, as if inspecting that she was okay. "My God, look how big you are."

"What are you wearing, a guard's uniform?" 'O' seemed unimpressed with his attire but the guard just smirked.

"I needed it to get on the drop ship," he explained, "Someone's got to keep an eye on you." It was a rather sweet moment, and Skylar wondered what kind of relationship they had.

"Where's your wristband?" Skylar had forgotten all about them but Clarke clearly hadn't. From the back of the crowd Skylar couldn't see, but it seemed like the guard - Bellamy - wasn't wearing one.

"Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year." 'O' shot back at Clarke, clearly annoyed at her for breaking up the moment. Everyone started whispering about what 'O' had just said. Bellamy was her brother?

"No-one has a brother." Someone shouted. The Ark had enacted a one-child policy in order to keep the population low, and as with everything else on The Ark, breaking this law was punishable by floating.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor," someone else shouted. Even in solitary Skylar had heard the story of the girl kept under the floor for most of her life, but as with any story told in the skybox, the more its told, the more distorted it becomes. Skylar had learnt to just avoid the gossip.

Bellamy had to hold Octavia back from going after the girl who shouted; obviously her past was something of a sore spot for her. "Octavia, no! Let's give them something else to remember you by."

"Like what?"

"Like being the first person on the ground in 100 years." Something close to nervousness crept over Octavia's face as Bellamy pulled away, as if fearing she would lose him again. He smirked at her as he grabbed the lever and pulled it down, fresh air billowing around the door and light spilling in. Having grown up on the fluroscent light of The Ark, the amount of sunlight shining in practically blinded everyone, and some even recoiled in shock.

Octavia tentatively stepped forward onto the ramp, one foot in front of the other until she reached the edge. There was pure silence as everyone waited, just watching Octavia. Finally, with one final timid step forward, Octavia jumped onto the ground. The silence was deafening and everyone held their breath.

There was a pregnant pause, and then... "We're back, bitches!"

* * *

 **Well there we go, chapter one done and dusted! I always struggle with writing the beginning of stories, particularly when I have to follow the script for a bit, but I promise I will improve. Please review and let me know what you think, it would be much appreciated and would help me out a lot. Thank you for reading!**

 **Miss Katie Jayne xx**

 **Question of the chapter: Do you guys ship Bellarke?**


	2. Euphoria

**Author's note: Thanks for your response to chapter 1 guys, I didn't expect anyone to even read it, let alone to actually get a review and follows! Particular thanks to** Unicornsareskinny **for giving me the first ever review of this story, you rock babe! So here we go, on with chapter 2 :)**

 **An Innocent Criminal**

 **Chapter 2**  
If the descent to the ground was chaos, then stepping out into the light was euphoria. Skylar's mother used to tell her stories, passed down from generations before her, about lush green trees and gentle breezes. Of sunlight so bright it was almost blinding, and the playful sounds of animals in the distance. The stories didn't do the reality justice.

"We're back, bitches!" It was as if Octavia's cry awoke something in the delinquents, something primal and urgent. Everyone surged forwards, crying out with joy and excitement. Skylar hung back a little, not wanting to get caught up in the pushing and shoving, that was until two boys noticed her. Skylar recognised one of them as the Asian boy who pointed out the lack of machine hum, and she guessed the other boy was his friend. He had pretty cool goggles on his head, Skylar thought.

"What're you waiting for, red?" Goggles boy asked, bouncing up and down like an excited puppy. Skylar pulled forward a strand of her hair, surprised at how vivid the sunlight made her auburn hair look. She pulled out her hair band and let it fall loose across her shoulders. "Come on!" He raced towards the door of the dropship, then stopped and looked between his friend and Skylar, still bouncing the whole time. His friend just shook his head.

"Just like a child," he sighed, although there was humour in his voice. In spite of herself Skylar laughed. This was the closest she had ever come to actual, genuine joy in a long while. He gestured towards the door and Skylar nodded. "Let's go take a look." The three raced out of the ship, and took their first steps in the outside world. It was absolutely breathtaking.

The delinquents had run off in different directions, enjoying their new found freedom, and Skylar was sure their shouts could be heard from far away. Skylar held her arms out wide, enjoying how the sun warmed her skin. She closed her eyes, thinking with an almost happy sadness, how much her mother would have loved to be there at this moment. Her train of thought abruptly stopped when she felt someone grab her and she was thrown over their shoulder. There was a brief moment of panic until she recognised the pair of nifty goggles on top of their head. Goggles boy began spinning her around, and Skylar laughed harder than she had ever laughed before. The greens and browns of the forest blurred together with the blue sky and the bright red of her hair, and she was just starting to feel too dizzy when he stopped, placing her feet back on the ground. Skylar tried taking a step forward and abruptly stumbled into someone.

"Woah, careful there," the Asian guy said, steadying Skylar back on her feet. "Sorry about Jasper, his lack of social etiquette was caused by being dropped on his head as a baby." Skylar laughed as Jasper shoved his friends shoulder, and the boys got into a harmless fight.

"Okay, okay," Skylar laughed, "Break it up you two!" The boys broke away from eachother, all of them laughing like they were delirious.

"So do we get to know your name, gorgeous?" Jasper asked, grinning widely. Behind him his friend rolled his eyes and Skylar stifled a giggle.

"Skylar Cassiday."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful lady," Jasper complimented. Skylar giggled, both glad and surpirsed she'd made friends so easily. "Well I'm Jasper Jordan, and my unfortunate looking friend over here is Monty Green." He gestured to the Asian kid.

"Pleasure to meet you," Skylar said. She sat down on the grass, Jasper and Monty following her lead. "So what were you two in lockup for?" Jasper sighed and looked pointedly at Monty, who held his hands up in defense.

"Not techincally my fault," he exclaimed, and Skylar guessed they'd had this argument many times before. "My family grow pharmaceuticals back on The Ark, and let's just say some of the herbs aren't only medicinal."

"Genius over here forgot to replace what we took and we got busted," Jasper finished.

"Oh my God," Skylar chuckled as it became clear what they meant. "Really? That's what you guys got locked up for?"

"Oh like you've got a better story?" Monty challenged. Skylar gave them the same answer she gave everyone else when they asked that question.

"Okay so I punched a guard," Skylar lied. Monty's eyes widened and Jasper looked impressed. Being only 5' 3" Skylar supposed she could have come up with a more believable story than punching a guard, but it was the first thing that came to mind when she was asked the first time. She'd learnt that nobody believed her when she said she was innocent, so she'd stopped trying to convince people. "What can I say, he was getting a little too friendly, if you catch my drift. No biggie."

"No biggie?" Monty questioned.

"You deserve a high five!" Jasper said, holding up his hand. Skylar obliged, hiding how guilty she felt for lying to them. For now she had made friends, and she wasn't about to ruin it. On The Ark there wasn't a single person she missed. She had people she'd grown up with in the poorer part of the ship, some not very nice acquaintances she'd done jobs for, and that was it. Where she grew up you did what you had to in order to survive, and that meant breaking the law and ignoring your morals. In lockup she'd kept to herself, the only interaction she had with the other delinquents being when she'd gotten into fights and sent back to solitary.

Looking at Jasper and Monty, her first real friends, she knew that if they found out the truth they'd want nothing more to do with her. That was why they'd never know. They'd never know that up on The Ark, on a file with her name on it, was the real reason she was in the skybox.

 _Meanwhile_...

What Skylar didn't know was that back on The Ark, someone was taking a very keen interest in her.

A technician hurried along the halls, trying to find who he needed to talk to. He finally found his objective, talking to a member of the guard. "Sir, sir!" The technician called out, catching his attention. His target dismissed the guard and turned to the technician.

"What is it?"

"It's about what you asked me earlier, about keeping you updated," the technician said. The man looked around, not wanting to be overheard. He ordered the man to tell him everything, and to keep his voice low. "She'd doing well, sir. Her vitals are holding steady and she doesn't appear to be injured, so far as we can tell." The relief on the mans face was obvious as the technician showed him a tablet as proof. The man dismissed him, and the technician hurried back to his post. The man studied the tablet for a long while, then with a few clicks he brought up the subject's file.

An image of a girl with bright red hair replaced the statistics, the mans own brown eyes looking back at him from the screen. _As beautiful as the day she was born,_ he thought to himself. He knew the file off by heart, every word, every letter. But there was one word he always skimmed over, one word he could never bring himseld to read.

"Commander!" Someone called, bringing him out of his daze. He quickly closed the file, not wanting anyone to know what he was looking at.

"What is it?" He snapped.

"Dr Griffin just exceeded the legal limit on medical supplies, sir," the guard reported. "Thought you should be told." Kane smirked. This was just what he was waiting for.

So, what do you guys think? What do you think Skylar's crime is, and is the connection with Kane too obvious or is it okay? Hope you liked it!

Miss Katie Jayne xx


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